SANDPOINT — Do you want to know how to better communicate with, encourage, and understand loved ones battling mental illness?

A free eight-week course called “Family to Family” strives to educate those with connections to individuals struggling with anxiety, depressive disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses. The course is made possible by the Far North chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. 

Among the topics covered will be problem-solving, treatment and recovery, the biology of the brain, emerging scientific discoveries, medication review, disorder subtypes and definitions, and understanding what it is like to have a mental illness. 

The course is designed to “increase understanding and advocacy skills while helping participants maintain their own well-being,” NAMI officials said. 

The evidence-based course is taught by trained family members who have a loved one with a mental health condition.

Dr. Dawn Mehra, board president of NAMI Far North, said she took the course years ago and now teaches it with two others. 

"In learning about how the brain works, its malfunctions, and the path to healing, our family gained transformative insights that reshaped the way we navigate life alongside loved ones living with serious mental illness,” she said. “Through the support of other classmates, we realized that we were not alone."

Other past participants have said that the course has positively impacted their lives and relationships.

“This course overall was the single most, without a doubt, helpful and informative thing ever offered in all my years searching for answers … it has helped me to understand better and communicate more effectively with my brother," participant Kathy M said. 

Another participant said that the course helped him realize that his son “is still inside the body that is oftentimes hidden by the illness.”  

The course will begin Jan. 8 at the Community Resource Envision Center in Sandpoint, 130 McGhee Road, Suite 220. Each class will take place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays. For those who can’t attend in person, the class will be available remotely on Zoom.

Information: 208-290-1768